Slovenian City Unveils World’s First Public Bitcoin Monument

The Slovenian city of Kranj has inaugurated what it claims to be the world’s first public Bitcoin monument. A roundabout in Slovenia’s fourth largest city now hosts a large ‘B’ in the center that connects two roads at Kranj’s city center.

Slovenian Roundabout Becomes Tribute to Bitcoin

The Slovenian city of Kranj recently unveiled a public monument to bitcoin and blockchain technology, of which it claims is the first in the world. The monument was financed by major bitcoin exchange Bitstamp, and blockchain software company 3fs.

The three-tonne metal sculpture is situated near Kranj’s courthouse, approximately 20 miles from the city’s capital. The circle surrounding the bitcoin ‘B’ has a diameter of roughly seven meters. The statue was created by artists Selman Čorović and Aleksander Frančeškin.

The mayor of Kranj, Bostjan Trilar, told reporters that the bitcoin ‘B’ was chosen as the design for the monument by the cities citizenry, stating “We asked citizens on our Facebook page to decide what to place in the new roundabout and this was one of the first ideas we received… Kranj has a lot of companies dealing with high technology.” Mayor Trilar added that many of the city’s inhabitants are “tightly connected to modern technology companies, some of them have been successful precisely with the blockchain technology and we thought it was right to honor them.”

Slovenia to Create Favourable Business Climate for Blockchain and Crypto Companies

In a press release, the Kranj municipality stated: “We’re sending a message to the world that emphasizes our openness to digitization, susceptibility to the use of new technologies and hospitality towards progressive thinking.”

Last month, Slovenian officials promised to work alongside local companies operating in the distributed ledger technology sector in order to “educate the public on the benefits and the opportunities that the innovative technology brings.”

Following a recent meeting hosted by Viberate that was attended by Slovenian prime minister, Miro Cerar, distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based start-up Insurepal published a blog post indicating the government’s desire to create a “favorable” business climate for DLT businesses. “We have called for regulation that would assist blockchain projects with existing financial limitations and allow us easier recruitment processes. The government has agreed that it will provide us with more favorable conditions in due time,” the company stated.

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